Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa. It is also the second largest lake in the world. It is an important lake because it is one of the sources(源頭) for the longest river in the world, the Nile River. Lake Victoria provides a source of water, food, and power(電力) for several African countries. Lake Victoria is a big part of African life.
Unfortunately, Lake Victoria has a problem. It is shrinking. There are several power stations at Lake Victoria in Uganda. These are on the Nile River, and besides producing power, they keep the water of the lake at a certain level. For the past forty years, that level has been 11.9 meters. Over the last several years, the water level has dropped by about 2.5 meters. There seem to be several reasons for this drop.
One possible reason is drought(干旱). Drought has been very bad in the area since 2000. Lake Victoria gets all of its water from rain, so the drought means less water in the lake.
However, some environmentalists believe that the real problem is the power plants(工廠) on Lake Victoria. Uganda depends on those power plants for most of its power, and they made the power plants larger in 2000. Many people believe the power plants have been taking too much water off Lake Victoria. As a result, they have been asked to use less water until Lake Victoria goes back to its old level.
Whether the low water level is caused by drought or power plants, the result is the same. This is already a poor area of Africa, where many people live a really hard life. People, animals and plants around Lake Victoria will suffer even more from low water levels on the lake. Many people need Lake Victoria for fishing or growing food. Fish need the water to live, and animals need it for water. Plants around the lake will die without the water, and then more animals and people will suffer. Unless the lake fills soon, many people will suffer and die.
【小題1】Lake Victoria is __________.

Life in the future will be different from life today. Between then and now many changes (改變)will happen. But what will the changes be?

The population (人口) is growing fast. There will be many people in the world and most of them will live longer than people live now.

Computers will be much smaller and more useful, and there will be at least (至少) one in every room. And computer studies will be one of the important subjects in schools then. People will work fewer hours than they do now and they will have more free time for sports, watching TV and travel. Traveling will be much cheaper and easier. And many more people will go to other countries for holidays.

There will be changes in our food, too. More land will be used for building new towns and houses for all the people. Then there will be less room for cows and sheep, so meat will be more expensive. Maybe no one will eat it every day. Instead they will eat more fruit and vegetables. Maybe people will be healthier. Work in the future will be different, too. Robots will do dangerous and hard work. Because of this, many people will not have enough work to do. This will be a problem.

1.In the future there will be _______.

A. much more fruit   B. more people     C. less vegetables

2.Every family will have at least a _____________ in the future.

A. robot            B. cow           C. computer

3.In the future people don’t have to __________________

A. work long hours   B. work fast      C. walk on foot

4.People may not eat _________ as much as they do today.

A. fruit             B. fish           C. meat

5.One big problem in the future is that ___________.

A. many people will not be able to find work

B. people have to work fast

C. all the work will be done by robots

Life in the 22nd century will be different from life in the 21th century，because many changes will take place in the new century. But what will the changes be?
The population(人口) is   1  fast．There will be more and more people in the world and most of them will live   2  than before．  3  will be much smaller and more useful，and there will be at least one in every home．And computer studies will be one of the important subjects at   4 ．
People will work fewer hours than they did in the 21th century，and they will have more free time for sports，  5  TV and traveling．Traveling will be more  6  . And many more people will go to other countries for holidays．
More land will be used for building new towns and houses．Then there will be less room for cows and sheep，so    7   will be more expensive．Maybe no one will eat it every day，  8 they eat more vegetables and fruit．Maybe people will be healthier．
Work in the future will be    9 ，too．Dangerous and hard work will be done by robots(機(jī)器人)．  10  of this，many people will not have enough work to do．This will be a problem．